Lights Camera Werewolf Read online

  “Look, you do catering. If you don’t want to be near my dog, there’s no need for you to be near him,” Joshua said. “Just avoid him. Geez.” He raised his hands in defeat. “I’m done. Stephanie, would you mind keeping Louis here, since Michael doesn’t like him?”

  “Sure,” Stephanie said, over Michael’s protests.

  “It’s not that!” Michael insisted. “It’s…” He sighed when Joshua walked away, then glared at her. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

  “Did what?” She should’ve known he’d wait until everyone else had left to confront her.

  “Playing dead.” He glared at Louis. “Making me look like a fool in front of everyone.”

  “You made yourself look like a fool.” She stood tall when he glared at her again. “Now, can you start acting like an adult and leave me alone?”

  “You’re the one acting like a child,” he sneered. “But fine, I’ll leave you alone. I hope you’re happy with that Bear Creek guy, if he ever shows up again. I won’t take you back, you know.”

  “Great.”

  He let out another angry huff, then turned around and stomped off.

  Stephanie watched him go, only heading into the cabin when he’d disappeared in the shadows of the forest path.

  She didn’t feel as overwhelmed as the last time she’d told him to leave her alone. Must be practice.

  Or that he finally agreed to leave her alone.

  A thud behind her told her Louis had shifted, and she turned around. “You okay?” he asked, his voice soft as his eyes searched her face.

  She rushed over to wrap her arms around him, resting her head against his bare chest. She closed her eyes when he hugged her closer. “I’m better than okay.” She felt him press a kiss against the top of her hair.

  “Does that mean I can help you remove the syrup from your neck?”

  Stephanie leaned back to smile up at him, remembering exactly how Louis wanted to do that. “Only if I get to help you remove what’s left on your side.”

  He rested his forehead against hers, grinning back. “Deal.”

  They removed the worst of her neck wound with another damp cloth before Stephanie led him over to one of the unused bedrooms. The moonlight through the window made the two bunk beds look almost romantic.

  Or like a machete-wielding maniac was about to burst through.

  She giggled at the thought.

  “What?” Louis asked, closing the door behind them.

  “I was just thinking.” She stepped back, pulling her t-shirt over her head and dropping it on the floor.

  Louis moved closer, eyes roving up and down her body. “About?”

  She leaned back against the nearest bunk bed. “You know what happens in horror movies when college-aged kids have sex in cabins?”

  He laughed at that, just as she hoped he would. “I’ll take the risk.” He kissed her. “At least we didn’t play with a Ouija board.”

  “Or read out loud from creepy old books.” She leaned back as he nuzzled her neck, and moaned when he licked the spot where he’d faked the wound earlier.

  He kissed her shoulder. “But you made one big mistake.”

  She doubted it. She was alone with Louis in a room with a bed. Four beds, technically. That was the opposite of a mistake. “Oh?”

  He licked her neck again. “You’re alone with the vicious Dr. Werewolf, and he hungers for human flesh.”

  His low growl made her shiver, but his words made her laugh again. “Ah, but I know Dr. Werewolf’s weakness.”

  Louis pulled back to smile down at her. “Do you now?”

  She grinned up at him, trailing her hands down his chest. “Belly rubs.”

  Epilogue: Stephanie

  One month later

  Stephanie rearranged the animal cupcakes in the display of their bakery’s food truck. It had still taken her some talking to convince her parents, and more research into the paperwork involved, but the money she’d earned working on Dr. Werewolf had definitely helped sway them.

  Louis had convinced the mayor of Bear Creek that opening up was a good thing. There were enough rumors flying around Elmworth already, so maybe it’d be good to show they were a very normal town with very normal people?

  Stephanie and her sister were halfway through their trial-period, during which they could set up their food truck in the town square on Tuesday and Thursday from noon to three o’clock.

  “Why do you always make so many bear faces?” Cynthia asked. “Half of these are bears. Why not more wolves or lions?”

  “The place is called Bear Creek, and the bears sell out every time.” She’d asked Louis which shifters were most common, figuring correctly that a lot of shifters enjoyed eating a cutesy version of their animal. “And they’re easy to make. I can do polar bears or panda bears next time.”

  “Save the polar bears until we’re closer to Christmas.” Cynthia nudged her with an elbow. “Oh, there’s your boyfriend! Better get his lunch order ready.”

  Her stomach still fluttered at the sight of Louis striding up, wearing his overalls from the garage. “Right on the dot.” She quickly exited the truck to give him a quick kiss and a lingering hug.

  “I’ve got oil all over me.” He didn’t stop hugging her, though.

  “I’ll wash my hands later.” She pressed herself tighter against him to prove her point. “I haven’t seen you in way too long.”

  “He came over last night!” Cynthia pointed out.

  Louis laughed at that. “That’s too long.”

  “But you don’t have to come over every time we’re here.” She could manage without him for a day. Probably.

  He told her more and more about shifters and fated mates every day. She’d never been happier than when she was with him, and counted the hours until they could see each other again. He’d been over for dinner with her parents a few times, and she’d met his a few weeks ago.

  Cynthia had been surprised at how fast Stephanie was moving, taking her aside early on to ask if Louis wasn’t a rebound.

  She’d denied it wholeheartedly. With Louis, everything fell into place. He showed her a whole other world that was both magical and mundane, where there were people who sniffed out their soulmates and people who sent back forms because she’d forgotten to sign her name in one of the boxes.

  “Of course I have to come over.” He kissed her hair. “One, I want to see you. Two, my colleagues would kill me if I didn’t bring them their sandwiches and cupcake order.”

  “We do regular cakes, too!” Cynthia pointed out. “In case your boss has any work anniversaries he’d like to celebrate. Stephanie’s great at cars.”

  “You’re very subtle,” Louis told her, smiling.

  Cynthia handed him a paper bag and took his money. “You know all the cupcakes have the same flavor, right? It doesn’t matter whether you get the wolf or the bear or the lion. You can get a dozen bear cupcakes instead of all these different ones.”

  “This way everyone knows which one’s theirs,” Louis replied easily.

  “Everyone gets their favorite animal?” Cynthia leaned forward on the counter.

  Louis’s mouth twitched in amusement. “Something like that.”

  “I knew it.” Her sister looked around the square. “As nice as Bear Creek is, we should start looking at other places as well.”

  “Yeah, Mom wants us to find nearby Christmas fairs so we can drive over.” Now that they finally had the food truck, her mother was as eager as they were to make good use of it.

  Cynthia wrinkled her nose. “I’ll have to get some thermal leggings. But Christmas fairs… that should be good.”

  Stephanie nodded. “It’ll be nice to visit other places.”

  “Yeah, Elmworth gets samey. Hey, you’ll never guess who I ran into at the store yesterday.” Cynthia gave her sister a significant look.

  Stephanie exchanged a look with Louis. “Michael?” she ventured.

  “Nah. Ashley.”

  It t
ook Stephanie a moment to remember why Ashley was important. Oh, right, the girl Michael had kissed. She didn’t even feel the usual pang of anger or sadness anymore. “What about her?”

  “I think I know why Michael was so desperate to get back together with you,” Cynthia said.

  Stephanie felt Louis’s arm around her tighten, and she gave him a gentle nudge. “Oh?” she asked.

  “She knew I was your sister, and was surprised I wasn’t giving her the evil eye. We got talking. I told her you’d gotten yourself a way better boyfriend. Ashley told me that after the party, Michael wanted to date her, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Guilt setting in late, but…” Cynthia shrugged.

  “And when she turned him down, he went back to chasing me.” Stephanie shook her head. “No wonder he was flirting with Vicky as well.” His constant string of girlfriends was making more and more sense. “He can’t be alone, can he?”

  “Nope.” Cynthia sounded pleased. “And I think he’s running out of eligible bachelorettes back home.”

  “I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted that it took him so long to get round to me.” Stephanie laughed.

  Cynthia turned to help a customer who’d walked up, and Stephanie’s throat tightened when she noticed the Border Collie sitting by the man’s feet.

  Her first instinct was to leave with Louis, but she made herself stay. This was a golden opportunity to work on her fear. “It’s a lovely day for a walk,” Stephanie told the customer.

  The woman smiled. “Yes, which is good because it’s time for a long one.” She paid for her sandwich, and the dog wagged its tail.

  “Your dog’s looking forward to it,” Stephanie said. “Would you—is it okay if I pet her? Him?” Her heart pounded in her chest.

  “Her.” The woman nodded as she stepped back. “Luna loves attention.”

  The dog stood up, looking at Stephanie and wagging her tail.

  Stephanie held out her hand for Luna to sniff, then reached out to pet her back a few times. Her hand didn’t tremble as much as it used to. “I bet you love walks, too,” she told the dog, then pulled her hand back. She turned to the woman. “I won’t keep you.”

  The woman nodded at her as they left, Luna trotting alongside her.

  “Nice work!” Cynthia gave her a proud grin.

  “Exposure therapy is really working for you.” Louis put his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve made great progress.”

  “Yeah, I can’t believe it either.” She was still stunned at how well she was doing. “But that Border Collie was very well-behaved.”

  Louis led her to the east side of the square, where it bordered on the park. “You still petted her.”

  She wouldn’t have done that a few months ago. “Good point. I freeze when I run into a dog unexpectedly, though.”

  They sat down on the bench. “You’ll get there,” Louis assured her, rubbing her arm. “Hey, you know what movie I’ve got lined up for us tonight?”

  “No, what?” The two of them were working their way through a lot of terrible and not-so-terrible werewolf movies, and neither of them minded missing scenes in favor of making out.

  “Joshua persuaded Paul to send him a rough cut of the movie.”

  Stephanie gasped with glee. “You’re joking!”

  “Nope. It doesn’t have any additional special effects, but it should be fun, right?”

  She kissed him. “That sounds awesome.”

  “One downside, though,” he murmured, running one hand through her hair.

  “What?”

  “No making out during. I’d hate to miss any pivotal scenes.”

  Stephanie laughed at that. “Oh, I think we’ll be able to follow the plot just fine. I’ll bring the Halloween cupcakes I’ve been working on.”

  “Great!”

  “They’re pumpkin pie cupcakes, but with a trick in them.”

  He frowned. “What kind of trick? A weird aftertaste?”

  “No.” She remained silent, not wanting to spoil it.

  Louis’s eyes turned pleading. “You know you want to tell me.”

  And she loved sharing her ideas, and she wondered what Louis made of it. “It’s got pink peppercorn in.”

  “So some poor soul thinks they’re getting something delicious and then… spicy cupcake?” Louis laughed. “Okay, that sounds interesting. Bring a batch over.”

  “A batch?” Surely he didn’t want to eat a dozen of them?

  “I’m hanging out with Joshua tomorrow night. Apparently I’ve been neglecting our friendship, and also I owe him for introducing the two of us.” He grinned. “I think I should thank him with some special cupcakes.”

  Stephanie leaned against him, snuggling closer. “I owe him as well, so he definitely deserves a batch of special Halloween cupcakes.” It was strange to think that a little over a month ago, she’d never even met Louis. Now she couldn’t imagine her life without him. They still had a lot to discuss and work out between them, but she was sure it’d be sooner rather than later before she moved in with him.

  And unlike the twenty-somethings in the horror movies she watched, she knew she was making excellent life choices.

  A Note from Zoe Chant

  Thank you for buying my book! I hope you enjoyed it. I love hearing from readers if you want to email me, comment on my Facebook, or leave a review, even if you only write a line or two!

  If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list: https://www.zoechant.com/join-my-mailing-list/. You can also visit my webpage at zoechant.com or follow me on Facebook or Twitter. You are also invited to join my VIP Readers Group on Facebook!

  New to my Shifter Bites series of short and sweet romance novellas? Keep turning the pages for a short preview of Ruffled Feathers!

  Cover art by Isabelle Arden

  Also by Zoe Chant

  Shifter Bites

  Sealed With A Kiss

  Bear Vet

  Taking the Bull by the Horns

  Hard Luck Hellhound

  The Dragon’s Lost Letters

  Fire & Rescue: Coyote in the Sea

  Fire & Rescue: The Sea Dragon’s Lion

  Unicorn Vet

  Fire & Rescue: First Mission

  Cute But Prickly

  Novels

  Stonewing Guardian

  Dragon’s Tailor

  Euan

  Babysitter Bear

  Librarian Bear

  Stoneskin Dragon

  Gryphon of Glass

  Her Christmas Phoenix

  Christmas Griffin

  A Hippogriff for Christmas

  And many more! See my website for a full list at Zoechant.com

  Preview: Ruffled Feathers

  Madison

  Madison was gentle as she turned the hawk over in the net to get a better look at it. Now that she knew what to look for, it was unmistakable. Black eyes stared up at her as she looked at the warm red of its breast. A red-shouldered hawk? They didn’t fly this far west. It was a young, healthy male by the looks of it. “You are definitely not supposed to be here.”

  Excitement bubbled up despite her exhaustion. What had brought this specific bird here, so far out of his usual range? Good thing she’d brought her banding equipment with her. “Did you get lost?”

  The bird kept staring up at her, and she laughed. Of course he wouldn’t answer. He squawked indignantly when she went back to tugging on the net to get one of his claws free for banding. “Yeah, you didn’t have a good time in that net, did you? Sorry about that. Nothing personal. I wasn’t looking for you, but I’m glad I found you.”

  She was used to handling trapped birds. Catching them via nets was the best way to track ones already banded and put rings on ones who didn’t have any yet. If done well, the process was smooth and painless for the birds, but still stressful.

  “All right, stay still, I’m going to have to get some pictures of you.” Any bird this far out of range had to
get reported. If more red-shouldered hawks turned up, it would be part of a pattern. Were they changing their habitat? Had something chased this one from his previous territory?

  The hawk screeched and struggled against the net, his one free wing beating against the air.

  She stepped back, waiting for him to tire himself out. “Not a fan of unflattering shots?” She raised the flashlight to get more light on the hawk without blinding it and held up her phone to snap more pictures. “There, all done.” She tucked her phone away, then grabbed her banding gear. She’d need one of her bigger rings for the hawk. “Time to put a ring on it.”

  The hawk kept squirming and screeched at her again.

  “Not a fan of terrible jokes either? Or are you a commitment-phobe?”

  That got her an even louder squawk.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll make it quick.” She hated banding with this little sunlight, especially by herself. Having two pairs of hands made things a lot easier, but she couldn’t let him go without banding him. “I’ll have you out of here soon.”

  With her flashlight nestled under her armpit, she grabbed hold of one of his legs, making sure his claws couldn’t get to her.

  But then the leg rippled against her palm, startling her into letting go. “What the—”

  The hawk shuddered, its wings now pressed against his body. He shuddered again, and Madison winced as another strange ripple went through his wing. Was he having a seizure? What could have caused it? She had to take care of him before he got worse.

  He puffed up his feathers to make himself look bigger—no, he was growing bigger, feathers rippling again as he did. She dropped the flashlight in her own panic, wondering what she could do to help. Should she free him and never mind the banding?

  The shape in the net kept growing until it tore the threads apart, and fell on the ground with a grunt.

  A human grunt.

  She picked up her flashlight with trembling fingers, her heart racing in her chest. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she aimed it at the shape, but she found a crouching, naked man with the remnants of the net at his feet.

  “I can explain!” He held one arm in front of his face and used the other to preserve some dignity.